Gov.UK Verify Misses April Go-Live Target

Gov.UK Verify Misses April Go-Live Target

According to the Government Digital Service (GDS) programme director the service did not meet its target of taking identity assurance service Verify out of beta by the end of April.

The government’s identity assurance programme was due to switch from beta at the end of April but is still “completing the final steps”.

The Go Live data for GDS was 29th April this year. It is intended to be the standard way for people using online government services to prove their identity and log in to complete transactions.

GOV.UK Verify programme manager director, Janet Hughes, previously said she was confident everything was on track to meet the Go-Live target.

However in a blog post last week Janet said: “We’re very nearly there. We’ve finished the technical work we need to do to go live and we’re in the process of completing the final steps before removing the beta label.”

The main reason was that GDS hadn’t finished its service standard assessment process, which was the “last action required before we can remove the beta branding”.

15 systems are said to be ready to start using the system when it goes live, with a further 50 from 10 departments to follow shortly after.

The rollout of the system has proved to be more complex and taken longer than originally planned.

GOV.UK Verify works by having users register with one of eight approved third-party identity providers such as Experian and the Post Office, which perform the identity checks required to verify an individual.

Once confirmed the company then confirms electronically to the GDS that the individual is allowed access.According to Hughes there are now 50 different types of evidence and data sources that can be used for citizens to provide their identity which include mobile phone contracts and bank accounts.